Birdfeed

Dark times in trucks and the old west

The offical start of the Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe was a dreary, rainy evening but the show must go on, and somehow our first night choices seemed to be suited to the weather. First up was The Uhaul Trilogy where about 15 of us were closed inside the back of a pitch black truck. “The wheels are moving,” comes a voice from the darkness followed by a lot of banging, and then three dancers appeared with handheld lights. I guess I’m not as limber as I used to be because the 15 minute performance was just about as much time as I could scrunch up on the floor of the truck before my limbs started to go numb. Of course, I can stretch before the 2nd installment next week.
Next, we made our way over the The Wilma for Sabooge Theatre’s Every Day Above Ground. I was so excited to see this company again that I forgot to bring my camera. I saw Sabooge’s Fathom in the 2004 festival, and I still remember that show vividly, so I was really looking forward to seeing their new piece. As before, the lighting, set, costumes and acting style were stunning, but I missed the sense of story that Fathom had. The narrative was very abstract, although the language was at times intriguing and graphic, as Billy the Kid seemed to make a slow, eerie decent to hell. The soundscore was interesting, but I found its constancy distracting and it made me feel like they were building to something they never actually got to. Regardless, I look forward to the next project from this company and hope they’ll make their way back to Philly.
We finished off the night at the Late Night Cabaret listening to a brilliant set from Cynthia Hopkins and her band Gloria Deluxe. Every time I see this woman perform, I become more convinced that she’s a genius. Her show Accidental Nostalgia was my favorite from last year’s festival. Her set previewed songs from part II of The Accidental Trilogy, which I’m sure will be a don’t-miss show.